Residents decry utility bills

Mt. Pleasant officials are hoping to resolve an $8 million lawsuit that could provide some relief to citizen's high utility bills — with a majority of fees from wastewater charges.

Mt. Pleasant officials are hoping to resolve an $8 million lawsuit that could provide some relief to citizen’s high utility bills — with a majority of fees from wastewater charges.

A public forum was held Thursday at the Mt. Pleasant Community Center where several residents expressed concerns about paying high bills.

An average residential Mt. Pleasant water and wastewater bill based on a 5,000 gallon usage is about $88. By comparison, Columbia’s average bill is about $61 and Spring Hill’s is about $46.

When asked for an explanation for why the costs are so high, city officials cited the town’s debt from a pending lawsuit.

In June, a complaint was filed against James C. Hailey & Co. alleging negligent misrepresentation and professional negligence in regard to construction and design of a new wastewater system. Hailey & Co. designed a system using the town’s former phosphate mines to process the city’s wastewater.

The system was faulty and received several environmental violations from Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The entire project has cost the city about $8 million, funding which it hopes to recover through the lawsuit.

Mt. Pleasant and its citizens are responsible for paying the city’s debt, which results in a higher utility bill for customers, Mt. Pleasant Public Works Director Bobby Nutt said.

“We all know that sewer rates are higher than anyone of us desires,” Nutt said. “We’ve got 15 years left of paying high utility bills (before the debt is paid).”

When the lagoon project was first proposed around 2003, the estimated cost was about $4 million. The project’s about $8 million price tag was borrowed money, Nutt said. That debt is being paid by 1,300 customers, which is why the wastewater bill is so high, he added.

No grant money was used for the project, which further complicated the problem, Nutt said.

“It’s easy in hindsight to sit back here and say (the city) should have went after this grant,” he added.

Mt. Pleasant resident Imogene Conger said she didn’t feel like the meeting accomplished anything. She said the citizens are not being treated fairly.

“I see where somebody made a mistake years ago,” Conger said. “Some of the people that’s over Mt. Pleasant now … maybe they are trying, but I don’t see that it’s really helping.”

Another concerned citizen, Cochita Watkins, said some of her questions were answered but no solutions were offered.

“It’s no conclusion to us because its not helping us any because our bills are not going down and that was our main concern,” Watkins said. “You understand that everything goes up (in cost), but it’s still not helping the citizens.”

Michelle Williams, Mt. Pleasant city manager, said she felt the meeting was successful overall and acknowledged that the wastewater bills are high. Williams said she thought the meeting did answer some residents’ questions, but more is left to do.

“I think that they felt that we answered (the questions), but I don’t they were the answers that they wanted,” Williams said. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and we are working toward that.”

Williams said that the town is working toward ending the Hailey & Co. litigation and plans are in the works for a new water treatment plant that could eventually help reduce the town’s water rates.

“I feel like as the new city manager people are looking at me like it’s my fault,” Williams said. “I lived here before I became the city manger. I have seen the rates go up.”